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Boulder smashes French Alps tourist train; 2 dead

The Associated Press

Updated:
02/08/2014 11:43:56 AM EST

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View of the derailed train after it was smashed by a boulder, outside the French town of Annot, southeastern France, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2014. An enormous boulder hurtled off a mountain and smashed into a tourist train in the French Alps on Saturday, derailing it on the mountainside and killing two passengers, officials said. Nine people were injured. The force of the boulder caved in the side of the train, which takes a leisurely three hours to travel about 150 kilometers (93 miles) from Nice to Dignes-les-Bains.

PARIS—An enormous boulder hurtled off a mountain and smashed into a tourist train in the French Alps on Saturday, derailing it on the mountainside and killing two passengers, officials said. Nine people were injured.

The force of the boulder caved in the side of the train, which takes a leisurely three hours to travel about 150 kilometers (93 miles) from Nice to Dignes-les-Bains.

"A rock the size of an automobile came off the mountainside and slammed into the first car of the train," Jean Ballester, mayor of nearby Annot, told BFM television. "There are unfortunately two dead."

The uninjured among the approximately 30 passengers were evacuated to Annot, a little more than half-way through the train route, Ballester said. Two rescue helicopters were dispatched to the remote area, he said.